Category: Political Landscape

Most people recognize Betsy Devos as the new Secretary of Education in the Trump administration, but her involvement in other affairs goes back a long way. In college she became active in campus politics and she has remained active ever since.

Over the past 30 years DeVos has been at the forefront of many political movements and campaigns. She is a former state chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party and has been very involved in a wide variety of different issues on the state and the national scene of politics.

It is amazing to see the wide variety of causes and roles that Betsy DeVos is involved with, and the ease in which she is able to take part and become associated with the leadership of these causes. Betsy along with her husband Dick, uses their business position to be able to put themselves in a position to solve social problems.

She currently serves as Chairman of the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice. These are non-profit organizations that have objectives of offering more flexibility and choice for America’s students, many of which are disadvantaged and stuck in decaying and outdated school systems that lack the wherewithal to help these students learn as they should.

Betsy DeVos is real about her social concerns and she pours her heart and soul into them. In a recent interview in regard to her philanthropic concerns, it was mentioned that fifty years ago, Milton Friedman was one of the first notable individuals to mention that there was a great need for school choice. He mentioned it in his publication about “Government in Education.” That was one of the principles that caught Betsy’s attention and she has pursued it since.

DeVos said that the one thing that got her and her husband involved was when her own children had reached school and she saw firsthand what some of the needs were then. When she met parents who could not pay for all of their children’s needs for school she knew that something more could be done. As both Betsy and her husband became more involved they were able to influence things on a local level at first, and then later on regional and national levels. Read more about her philanthropy at MLive.

Betsy has a long line of experience at the grass-roots levels of educational philanthropic activity such as the promotion of charter schools, tax credits for scholarship vouchers in Florida where now over 50,000 students are attending the school of their choice, largely through the efforts of Betsy.

Where success has come in Florida and Michigan it shows that the same principles can work on a national level, and that is why Betsy was chosen as Secretary of Education by President Donald Trump. New ideas and procedures are needed overall in our nation’s schools so more students can have flexibility In their choice of schools and overall education.

Charles Koch and the Koch brothers have been involved in politics for years before they finally made the headlines. As of right now, they are providing funds to anyone they believe can help get the country on what they believe is the right track. Among the things that they are hoping gets regulated is welfare. They see the effect that welfare has on impoverished. They instead want to encourage people and give them the inspiration to build businesses. They do believe in a good education that teaches people skills that they could use in order to succeed. Charles Koch is especially interested in promoting a free market that makes it easier for people to succeed.

Koch’s recently entrance into the limelight has been accompanied by quite a few myths, five in particular which will be addressed in this article. One myth is that the Koch Network is just a front for their business. Another myth is that it is its own political party. The third myth is that The Koch Network just gives money to conservative groups. The fourth myth is that the Koch Network is only funded by Charles Koch, and the fifth myth is that the Koch Network only dates back to Obama.

Of course as anyone gets a lot of exposure, there are going to be a lot of stories about the person as people learn about them. Of course many of these stories are going to be false, but fortunately there will be people around to clear up all of the misunderstanding.

Charles Koch is the CEO of Koch industries. He is one of the brothers who has inherited the business from Fred C. Koch, their father. Charles is also involved in political and philanthropic activities like any research and other activities that are geared towards the free market.